


Dreams and Disasters

by rowanrouxs



Category: Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Anxious Allister, Big Sister Bea, Character Study, Fluff and Angst, Found Family, Gen, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Gengar is Allister's support Pokemon, Hurt/Comfort, My First AO3 Post, My First Work in This Fandom, Panic Attacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-28
Updated: 2019-12-28
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:54:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21994798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rowanrouxs/pseuds/rowanrouxs
Summary: The roars and screams of the crowd were apparent the second they stepped through the entrance way doors, and for good reason. They had handled the gym challenge wonderfully, completing it in precisely nine minutes and fifty-seven seconds. They would have to face Allister themselves, and defeat his full Ghost-type team. They knew they could handle this. They’d been leveling up in wild encounters, max raid battles, and even searching the Wild Area for rare candy.So why were they so nervous?
Comments: 3
Kudos: 71





	Dreams and Disasters

The roars and screams of the crowd were apparent the second they stepped through the entrance way doors, and for good reason. They had handled the gym challenge wonderfully, completing it in precisely nine minutes and fifty-seven seconds. It was one of the fastest completions the gym had on record. Allister’s himself being nine minutes and forty-four seconds. 

They were aware of what Allister was like from their brief experiences with him at the opening ceremony in Motostoke. When they had gone to meet him, his anxiety was evident. He was curled into himself, his hands close to his chest, head down. **Every** alarm bell they had was going off at full blast. They tried to be as friendly as possible and give him the space he needed, but it was difficult considering the several other trainers rushing to meet him. He seemed to be a fan favourite, and the way they crowded him was nowhere close to safe. Luckily the Grass-type leader Milo dispersed the crowd before things got too bad, but if things had gotten any worse they might’ve freaked out too.

Sadly, they knew what came next. They would have to face Allister themselves, and defeat his full Ghost-type team. Luckily it would only be them on the field this time, well, including their Pokemon too. They knew they could handle this. They’d been leveling up in wild encounters, max raid battles, and even searching the Wild Area for rare candy. All of their Pokemon were equipped with Leftovers and Shell Bells, and they had spent over 10,000 Pokedollars on heals. 

_So why were they so nervous?_

* * *

They were not prepared at _all_ for this battle.

While they were buying potions and using candy, they overlooked a massive detail. Their two highest level Pokemon were Ghost, and their speed stats were practically nonexistent. Two of their Pokemon were down and Allister still had three Pokemon. They didn’t want to risk using a Revive in the midst of battle, but they honestly might have to. 

After reluctantly using revives every other turn and stuffing their Pokemon with potions, they had gotten Allister down to his final Pokemon, Gengar. They had learned that Gym leaders tend to use their Dynamax’s at the end of the battle, so they revived their highest level Pokemon just before his turn. They were left with two Pokemon, only one of them being effective on Gengar, but they were going to have to Dynamax anyway to keep one of their Pokémon from fainting from a single Dynamax move. Their Pokemon looked back at them, understanding the situation immediately. The two of them shared a nod and turned their gaze back to Allister.

“Crumbs… ‘M sorry I have to haunt your Pokemon like this… but it’s not a game without a winner and a loser… If there’s not a game, then there’s no life. If there’s no life, then there’s no death...”

His very words shook their entire body. Granted, he was the Ghost-type trainer. So something creepy like this shouldn’t freak them out. But actually hearing such existential words coming out of a young child’s mouth was petrifying. Even their Pokemon looked troubled from his words. Allister and the challenger shared eye contact. They saw that Allister had tilted his head to the side, like he was confused. So they gave him a confused look, silently telling him to explain.

“You don’t seem angry at me… or… even determined to beat me… You looked… frightened… That’s certainly new… Let’s see how far we can push that fear…”

Allister reached out a hand clutching a Duskball to retract his Gengar.

_“Oh shit....”_

A pinkish hued light swirled from his Dynamax Band to his Duskball, causing it and the Pokemon inside to grow in size; the ball being approximately the size of Allister’s own head. They decided to try and beat him to it, retracting their own Pokemon and causing it to Dynamax as well. By the time their Pokeballs had both left their hands, both of their Pokemon began to grow in size at around the exact same time. The wind had grown to unnatural speeds, even causing some of the posters in the crowd to be ripped just from the wind's sheer force. The crowd’s cheers had subtle, but definitely noticeable screams. The ground shook with the weight of both of their Pokemon, and by the time it had all subsided and the challenger had begun to look up they noticed something paradoxical.

Allister’s mask was lying face-up on the ground beneath him.

The boy was trembling like a leaf, tears were building up in his amethyst coloured eyes and he was clutching his bangs with a death grip so hard his knuckles were white. Neither of them dared to move, their Pokemon standing there confused. The crowd’s excited cheers converted to confused and concerned yelling. Eventually the challenger came back to their senses, and fully realized the situation.

“Return!”

Their Pokemon shrunk and returned into its Pokeball, as soon as they heard the _“click”_ of the Pokeball locking they ran full sprint to Allister, shrinking to their knees to try and stay on his level. By the time they had gotten to him his Gengar had shrunk on it’s own, concerned for it’s trainer. Before they could get a word out, one of the Ghost-type gym trainers approached them.

“Challenger! You cannot retract your Pokemon mid-battle! You must release at least one and-”

“Then I’m calling off the match and taking the loss.”

“What? But you ca-”

“Yes, I indeed can. I’m calling off the match and forfeiting. Now, point me in the direction of the Ghost-type leaders locker room before he gets any worse, _please._ ”

That finally shut him up. He pointed towards where Allister first entered the field, and ran off to return to the announcers and call the battle off. They looked back at Allister, who had seemed to have gotten worse with the trainer coming over. He was still trembling, but had fallen to his knees and curled into himself to try and hide.

“Allister.”

The challenger tapped his knee to try and get his attention without scaring him too much, but no matter what they knew he would flinch. He lifted his head enough to make the tops of his eyes visible. He noticed his Gengar behind them and seemed to loosen his grip on his hair from it’s presence.

“Allister, I’m going to have to pick you up and carry you to get you to your locker room. I don’t think it’s good for you to walk right now. Do you think you can handle that?”

After they watched him battle his own brain for a moment, he nodded to them.

“Alright, are you ready?”

Another nod. They picked him up, his legs immediately curling around their waist and his head burying into their shoulder to hide his appearance from the crowd. The force sent the challenger stumbling back, but not enough to cause them to fall. They started walking towards the direction of his locker room, the mask long forgotten on the field.

* * *

After having Gengar push through several Ghost-type trainers and worried fangirls in the lobby, they finally made it into Allister’s locker room; Gengar locking the door behind them. They sat down with Allister still curled onto them in the middle of the room to stop him from slamming into anything incase he lashed out.

The room seemed so uniquely… Allister. It was definitely more personalized than their idea of a locker room. Purple lockers lined the walls, covered in stickers from an array of tv shows and books. Two tall bookshelves stood in the corner of the room, holding a collection of books from manga to full-course novels. Accompanying a large purple bean bag in the middle of them. A TV hung from above one of the sets of lockers, showing a table of announcers. Gym-challenge announcers.

“This just in!” A blonde woman started speaking, “Allister’s current gym challenger has just called off their battle! For the first time in Gym Challenge history a challenger has forfeit a match!”

A young man, about Leon’s age cut in. “Just after they began Dynamaxing too! The battle had me on the edge of my seat! It’s really a shame. Hopefully the next challenger will be stronger!”

Their words, while only partly true, still hurt a little. They hadn’t forfeit the match because they weren’t strong enough. They forfeited for Allister’s sake. Stupid news stations. They’re never accurate anyway. They turned their attention back to Allister without making eye contact, who still wasn’t doing much better than before. His grip had loosened on his hair, but had tightened onto Gengar's hand in a death grip.

“Allister…” They whispered, their voice echoing throughout the quiet locker room.

He didn’t lift his head, almost as if they didn’t hear them. So they repeated his name at a slightly louder volume. At this his head rose slightly, enough for his watery, orchid coloured eyes to be shown. So he _could_ hear them, thank god. As soon as his eyes were visible they looked away, trying to give him some sense of security.

“You’re going to be fine, Allister. It’s just anxiety, it’ll pass _I promise_. I’m going to need you to breathe for me, okay? Is it okay if I touch your hand?” 

They reached their hand out towards him. He glanced at Gengar’s hand and back to theirs. Instead of loosening his grip on Gengar’s hand he release his hair and set his hand in theirs. They gently but firmly took his hand and placed it over their heart, giving him something to feel and focus on.

“When you feel me breathe, try to follow me and take deep breaths. Take your time, we have as much time as you need.”

He shakily nodded to them, so they gave him a firm nod back and began breathing.

* * *

After about fifteen minutes of breathing exercises, Allister had seem to have fully calmed down. His hands were still shaking, but definitely not as noticeable as before. His breathing had evened out, but neither Gengar nor the challenger felt it was safe to leave him alone yet. For the first time since their battle, he spoke.

“Can you… grab me one of my masks… please?”

They nodded to him and tilted their head at Gengar, silently asking where Allister kept them. Gengar put it’s hand out, as if telling them to stay there, and walked off towards the lockers. They returned their attention to Allister, who is still holding onto them and their hand ever since they picked him up. 

“Has that ever happened before? I-I mean, well, do you know what that was?”

His head perked up at the question, but still not maintaining eye contact.

“Y-yeah… Bea calls it ‘anxiety attacks’ I think… but... I don’t like calling them ‘attacks’... It makes it sound like it just… came out of nowhere… I call it... anxiety overload...”

Allister certainly was smart, they had to give him credit for that. They were only a year or so older than him and he’d probably been to hell and back. Gengar returned with one of Allister's masks in hand, and Allister turned and made grabby hands towards it. Gengar handed him the mask and Allister hurriedly put it over his face, clipping the latch together and keeping it in place. He turned to face the challenger, finally getting a look at their face since the battle ended. His head immediately drooped and he curled into himself again, but it was more embarrassment than it was fear.

“I-I’m sorry you had t-to see that and… You d-didn’t have to forfeit f-for me!... and n-now you’ll have to rematch me and...and-”

His breathing had started to pick up again and his hands reached towards his hair. They hurriedly reached for his hand to stop him, and finally got to properly look at him since his breakdown.

“It’s okay Allister, I don’t mind. I was more worried about your safety than some silly gym challenge. You mentioned someone named Bea earlier, do you want to go see them? I can make sure the guards can get you out of here before any fans see you.”

He stared at them in what seemed to be disbelief for a moment. He lowered his hand away from his hair, but didn’t let go of their hand.

“I… would like that… please…”

The challenger smiled at him, and Gengar started happily hopping around the locker room at the sight of its trainer’s happiness. The two trainers shared a smile and laughed at Gengar’s excitement. Gengar took Allister’s other hand, and started pulling him along towards the exit of the locker room, leading to the lobby.

* * *

After asking Gengar and the Ghost-type trainers to make a safe and quiet way for Allister to get out of the gym, Allister led the challenger to a home in Ballonlea. The quiet, yet mystical fairy town. Allister still hadn’t let go of the challenger’s hand, it seemed to provide comfort for him. So they didn’t see the need to let go. They approached a small little house nestled in between the tall grasses and trees of the woods. Allister almost reluctantly let go of the trainer’s hand to approach the door. Before he even got the chance to knock on it, and old woman fashioned in pink, pink, and even more pink answered the door.

“Oh, Allister you’re home so early! I thought you were going to be busy with the gym challengers all day… Oh! That reminds me how did it go? Any winners this year?”

The woman began bombarding Allister with questions, but he didn’t seem to be backlogged at all. Instead he looked more... content.

“Well... it’s a little complicated… I.. uh… I kind of like… freaked out on the field? So I… left the stadium early…”

The woman's face went from excited to concerned so fast the trainer thought they had whiplash.

“Oh Allister are you alright?! Do I need to make you some tea or anything, do I need to go get Bea?”

The woman finally seemed to take notice to the trainer standing behind Allister, and her face turned to anger **real** fast.

“Did you have anything to do with this, youngin’? Do I need to make this purse a bit heavier?”

She began to raise her handbag menacingly, and for some reason, they were absolutely _terrified_ of this old woman. They started to back away and reach for their Pokeballs before Allister grabbed their hand again and stepped in front of them, his small frame barely covering them but they appreciated his cover all the same.

“N-No!! T-They helped me!! They forfeit the match s-so they could help me! Please don’t hurt them!!”

Allister started shaking again, likely bracing himself for impact. But it never came. The woman lowered her handbag and apologized profusely for scaring both the trainer and Allister, and welcoming them inside.

The house was covered from top to bottom in purple. Purple walls, furniture, carpet, you name it. Considering this was Allister’s house it wasn’t much of a surprise. You sit your bag on the top of the small shoe cabinet, taking off your coat and attaching it to the coat rack next to an orange, purple, and pink coat.

“Make yourself at home here dearie, we haven’t had any visitors for quite sometime… So I apologize if it seems a bit messy. I would apologize for all the purple, but it is certainly a pretty colour! Despite being the Fairy-type leader, I’ve always been one for the Ghost-type aesthetics.”

She’s right, purple is- Wait. Fairy-type _leader?!_

“Hold on, you’re the fairy-type leader?! Miss Opal, right?”

“Correct dearie! You’ll have to face my gym once you rematch Allister, and just because you know my son doesn’t mean I’ll go easy on you!”

Well… You learn something new everyday. They feel something pulling their sleeve, and look down to see Allister yanking their sleeve to get their attention.

“C’mon! I-I want you to meet Bea!”

They giggle at him and he starts pulling you down the hallway, both of you running up the stairs to the second floor. He stops in front of a door with a nameplate on it, the name “Bea” etched into it with a small little fist emote in the corner. He knocks on the door and a feminine voice answers from inside.

“C’mon in!”

* * *

Allister lightly pushes the door open to a room filled from top to bottom with orange. Gemstone rocks and anime figures line the shelves, workout equipment is strewn about everywhere, protein shake bottles and candy wrappers are overflowing the bin. Messy, but homely. A teenager, probably about 16 or 17, is performing a series of blocks, kicks, and punches. Presumably taekwondo... or something like that. After finishing the series of moves, she bows and realizes that she has guests when she hears Allister excitedly bouncing and flapping his uniform sleeves up and down with his hands. Bea smirks at him, and assumes a standing position, walking to her desk and grabbing a water. Another bottle to eventually add to the ever growing pile in the bin.

“It’s only been around 3 hours since you left Allister, weren’t you supposed to be fighting a couple trainers today?” She started downing her water after she finished speaking.

“Oh… W-well I kind of… had an overload while battling? S-so I came home early…”

Bea choked on her water and after recovering she looked at Allister wide eyed. She immediately refused to look at him and stared at her feet, the water bottle returning to the desk from which it came.

“Allister… I told you to call me when something like that happens. I can’t have you getting hurt out there on that field.”

He immediately stopped bouncing and stared to the floor, his knees slightly shaking from anxiousness. They made a cough behind Allister, trying to convert Bea’s attention to them.

“Um…. Hi?.. I was battling Allister when that happened and I… personally want to apologize for any harm I caused to Allister. I took care of him after I forfeit and walked him here to make sure he was safe. I-I’ll take my leave.”

They started to walk out the door but Allister grabbed their hand before Bea had a chance to speak.

“N-No!!! You were… really nice to me a-and tried to help me!!! D-Don’t blame yourself for this!!! My m-mask falls off all the time…I-It’s no big deal...”

The room fell deadly silent for a moment before Bea spoke up.

“Wow… Allister you seemed to have gotten yourself a good friend there, huh?”

He turned around faster than they’d ever seen him move before, his body jumping from Bea’s comment.

“W-What do you mean?... “

“I mean that this kid’s the kind that cares for others more than themselves. You put others' safety before their own. Am I wrong?”

She hit the nail right on the head. _Damn._

“N-Nope, you’ve got that right.”

She chuckled a little, the stern look on her face never leaving. “Dreams and disasters, huh? That’s what today sounded like.”

Allister and the trainer in unison, agreed.

**Author's Note:**

> allister is MY kin and i'll project as much as i want. thank you so much to molly and xio for being my beta readers and helping me with writing this fic <3 i started this fic at 10:48 last night and finished it at around 7:45 tonight. in total i probably spent about 4 or 5 hours on this in between breaks and much needed sleep, which honestly isn't bad for my first fic in probably 3 years at a word count of around 3k.
> 
> now, i'll take my leave. stan miku, listen to miku symphony 2019 and the sonic unleashed soundtrack. thank you <3
> 
> update 12/27/19 : edit @ last section, first paragraph. thank you xio for this section. she knows about taekwondo,,, i dont :')
> 
> update 12/28/19 : day-after-posting grammatical edit. i may have missed some but i tried to correct as much as possible.


End file.
